Wednesday, 24 February 2010

Mr Comment

There seems to be a growing amount of needless negativity online. Like many people, i use the internet for all sorts of things from photography to researching a film/actor/TV series I've seen. It was while i was checking out an article on a newspaper website, that i came across a comment by a reader that really sums up one of the problems with the online world.

I have no problem with constructive criticism, but there seem to be more and more people commenting online who just seem angry, frustrated individuals. We've all come across them. An article i was reading last night compared the British and Swedish versions of a popular TV cop show called Wallander. I really enjoy the programme with its great characters, stories and its Swedish location. Most cop shows in Britain are, naturally, set either in the UK or the USA so it's a refreshing change to see a set of stories set in a completely different country. The landscape, people and culture offer something new and that is among one of the strengths Wallander has as a TV programme. The cinematography on the show takes TV to new areas and has won BAFTA awards. The TV shows look and feel more like films than a TV series.

The Independent article did a great job of showing the similarities and differences between the two versions. At the bottom of the page was one comment. Just one, but the tone, length and negativity of the comment stood out. For me it represents that element online who have nothing better to do than attack anything they don't agree with.They seem to believe that their opinion matters above everyone else's. Complete with idiotic statements about why Wallander is set in Sweden and how superior other 'British' police dramas were, the guy launched into a tirade about how it was recommended to him by a friend. Within fifteen minutes of the start of the show, he thought it was poorly shot, badly written and badly acted. He then writes that he spent the next fifteen minutes writing an e-mail to his friend telling them never to recommend anything to him again. What a nice fella eh.

All that negativity again, you see. Me and you, dear reader, would have probably said 'Not my cup of tea' and switched off. End of story. Mr Comment obviously thinks his opinion is so very important. Interesting that these people always think that they SHOULD be heard. I think they should just all shut up unless they have something constructive to say.

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Launched back in February 2007, the Richard Flint Photography blog features a growing archive covering classic and contemporary photography, photography history, photographer profiles, videos, and links to great multimedia content.